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Police Beat

Welcome to Police Beat 2010. To make the new year special, we're going back to including block numbers on unnamed crime scenes. We don't want to tip off crooks to easy targets, but we do want our cautious readers to know which sections of miles-long roads carry the greatest risks of pistol-whipping or copper theft. Welcome back to the future.

Dec. 23

(2009-604338) 1:26 p.m.: Three cops on foot chased down a man on a bicycle in the 100 block of North Parramore Avenue, and found he was weighed down with 11 pieces of crack.

(2009-604984) 10:05 p.m.: In the 4300 block of Clarcona-Ocoee Road, two guys somehow failed to take another man's wallet. They ran off, despite having the only gun on the scene.

Dec. 24

(2009-605694) 11:29 a.m.: The Christmas spirit was lost on a mother at Colonial Terrace Apartments on West Colonial Drive. She was busted for pointing a pistol at her daughter and her boyfriend.

(2009-605748) 1 p.m.: One guy apparently fired two shots at another guy, who fled, in the 4400 block of Ring Neck Road. Then the shooter took off in a silver car, pursued by a gold car. Nobody seemed to be hurt.

(2009-605853) 2:05 p.m.: Even the Orange County Sheriff's Office isn't safe from pillage in these mean times. City police saw four kids, ages 8 through 14, coming out of a broken window at the sheriff's "Children's Safety Village" on Fairvilla Road. They were stopped while riding bikes stolen from the building and all were arrested.

(2009-605874) 2:36 p.m.: A man in the parking lot of Dave's Place on Silver Star Road was accosted by three or four guys in a dark-red Pontiac Firebird. They robbed him at gunpoint and hit him in the mouth, leaving with his money, phone and car keys, but not his car.

(2009-606355) 11:23 p.m.: Police went after two teenagers spotted in a stolen car. They fled on foot from the corner of Curry Ford Road and Conway Gardens Road, and soon were caught. In the car officers found two guns and "a large amount of cannabis."

of cannabis."

Dec. 25

(2009-606718) 9:32 a.m.: In a repeat of a snack-snatching less than two weeks old, a man came in a broken window at Church's Chicken on West Church Street and took several boxes of bird.

(2009-607349) 10:55 p.m.: A gun-waving guy in a dark hoodie carried out an armed robbery and carjacking at the Express Shop on South Semoran Boulevard. He took $5,000 and a 2002 blue Lincoln Town Car, then headed south on Commander Drive.

Dec. 26

(2009-607621) 3:25 a.m.: Police found a 43-year-old man dead in the street in the 400 block of South Lee Avenue.

(2009-607818) 9:29 a.m.: Two guys followed another out of ABC Fine Wine & Spirits on West Gore Street, pushed him down, and kicked him repeatedly while rifling his pockets. They got just $2, then fled on Parramore Avenue. One was later arrested.

(2009-607945) Noon: A burglar seen at Cornerstone Apartments on South Conway Road ran straight home — to another unit in the same complex. At his place, police found a stolen .40-caliber pistol.

(2009-607998) 1:11 p.m.: A mugger with a short Mohawk slugged a guy at the corner of West Colonial Drive and Ramona Lane. He took $74, but left his own bicycle behind and fled on foot.

(2009-608297) 6:40 p.m.: Now for a turnabout. A man riding his bicycle in the 700 block of South Semoran Boulevard was knocked down by two guys who demanded money and began pistol-whipping him, but then fled.

Dec. 27

(2009-611906) 2:10 a.m.: At Ferguson Enterprises on South Orange Avenue, someone who knew the alarm code got in and stole six water heaters. It was a tankless job.

(2009-609196) 1 p.m.: A $170,000 Peterbilt tractor-trailer is missing from the 8400 block of Tradeport Drive, along with its cargo: $40,000 worth of cheesecake.

(2009-609373) 4:58 p.m.: One man broke into a unit at Royal Isles Apartments on Don Quixote Avenue and let two other guys in the front door. They took money and jewelry, and left in a black Honda Civic.

Dec. 29

(2009-611954) 12:30 a.m.: A man was jumped and robbed by two others in the 600 block of West Washington Street. They left him in a field, suffering from spinal injuries.

(2009-611572) 6 a.m.: In the preceding four days, someone cut through a chain lock at the city recreation center at Southport Community Park and took a new John Deere tractor. Yes, it was green.

Dec. 30

(2009-612839) 2:23 a.m.: A masked and armed man drove up to the East-West Expressway toll booth on Conway Road, levied a toll of his own, and drove off.